Weather strip for closures



Aug l 193g G. N. BRUNlKl-:R 2,126,72

WEATHER STRIP FORCLOSURES Filed Aug. 13, 1957 Patented Aug. 16, 1938Ui'iED STATES -VATsNr oFFicE Application August 13,

3 Claims.

lViy invention relates to weather strips for the bottom of doors,screens, or other similar closures and has for its object to provide anew and efficient automatically acting weather strip which will raiseinstantly from the sealing position to the full open position as soo-nas the door is opened the full open position being higher than bottom ofdoor.

A further object is to provide a weather strip which is made to t andseal worn floors or uneven surfaces under the closure just as efcientlyas to seal perfectly even oors.

A still further object is to provide a weather strip which may be usedon doors to eliminate the need of a threshold of any type, whether thedoor be an inside or outside door.

A still further object is to provide a weather strip which is easily andquickly installed on a door and when once installed may be quicklyremoved cr replaced without effecting its subsequent operation orsealing properties and without changing the mounting in any manner.

i still further object is to provide a removable weather strip which maybe taken from the door during the summer if desired and replaced againin the fall but which weather strip when 'used in territories which arebothered by insects or dust be used throughout the entire year toperfectly seal the ends of the door against intrusion by such insects ordust.

These obje-cts I accomplish with the device iliustrated in theaccompanying drawing in which similar numerals and letters of referenceindicate like parts throughout the several views and as described in thespecication forming a part of this application and pointed out in theappended claims.

In the drawing Figure i. is a face view of a door closed in its framewith my device installed thereon in the closed position.

Figure 2 is an end view of the door showing the weather strip raisedafter the door has been opened.

Figure 3 is' an enlarged face view of a portion ci the door and stripshowing the raising spring and the mounting for the device.

Figure 4 is a section on line 4 4 of Figure 1 enlarged over the showingin Figure 1,

Figure 5 is a view of the support or lifting rod and the support barwhich is attached to the door showing the notch in one end of the barbracket for removal or insertion of the lifting rod to permit readyremoval of the device from the door, dotted lines indicating theposition of the rod for removal from the brackets of the bar.

1937, serial No. 158,337 (o1. -67) Figure 6 is a side view of thetension spring used to hold the felt down onto the uneven iioor.

Figure 7 is a mcdied form of tension spring which may be used.

Figure 8 is a back View of the weather strip removed from the door partcut away.

Figure 9 is an end view of the actuating bracket.

In the drawing the door is shown as A, the door frame as B and the mainchannel of my weather strip is shown as C. This main channel C is madeof a flat backing body 5, with the top edge formed into asemi-cylindrical or half circular top groove 6 which groove lls twopurposes as will later be shown.

Near each end of the channel C there is a vertical slot 8 and securingbolts li) are passed through these slots with nuts Il to hold a felt orother type of sealingstrip in place on the channel C and to provide forvertical adjustment of either end of said strip. Radial springs 9 aresecured under the nuts l i to hold the ends 'l of the felt in positionagainst the channel C. The felt strip is made longer at each end 'l thanthe channel to provide for proper closing of the device without anydanger of the channel being bent by opening or closing of the door. Thefelt is held in yielding relation to the channel and in sealing positionto the iioor by spaced apart tension springs l2. These springs as shownin Figure 6 are made with an elliptical top leg portion i3 to fit intothe groove at the top oi the channel to force upwardly there against tohold the felt down onto the floor and the other end lll of the spring isformed into a coil with an extended leg l5 to t along the top side ofthe felt strip and the end l of theleg l5 turned down to be insertedinto the felt to give it rigidity and help hold it in place at the sametime holding the spring Ain position. The free elliptical leg I3 at thespring i2 operates freely in the channel C when the devi-ce is beingoperated. The flat plate Il on the spring l2 is provided to prevent theleg ll5 or end i6 from penetrating too deeply into the felt and to holdit in proper position. Thus with the form of the spring l2, the plate iland the channel groove 6 the springs are held in xed relation to thechannel C with their tension forcing the felt strip E downwardly at alltimes. When the felt is engaged with the floor the springs hold itfirmly sealed thereagainst. The tension of these springs may be variedby bending the legs i3 and l5 closer together or farther apart asdesired.

Near each end of the channel C there is a support bearing bracket I8,said bearing engaging around a support and lifting rod I9. The rod I9has each end bent up at 20 and back parallel to the main body of the rodagain with one end 20a to support that end of the strip and with ends 2|where it is bent back and attened to form a rectangular end, said end 2|being the means to permit removing the strip from its support bearings.

The support brackets for the device consist of a long bar 22 extendingfrom one edge of the door A to near the opposite edge and having the twoends thereof bent outwardly at right angles to form brackets forsupporting the entire device. This bracket is secured in permanent fixedposition on the door by suitable screws. One end 23 is provided with around hole to carry the end rod I9 which is round and the other bracketend 24 is provided with a round hole 25 therein With a slot 2 formedslanting downwardly from the top outer side of the bracket to interceptthe hole 25 the width of this slot being suiiicient to allow therectangular end 2| to be passed through the slot into the hole 25 whenthe rod has been raised to a position as shown in dotted lines a inFigure of the drawing. Thus when the one end of the rod is inserted intothe end bracket 23 and then raised to a position to allow the other endto be inserted through the slot 26 into the hole 25 the entire strip maybe lowered into position onto the door face for operation. A liftingspring 28 is secured to the inner edge of the channel top 6 of thechannel C and the other end of the spring is carried in a groove 29 inthe end 2| of the rod I9 to normally tend to hold the channel elevatedor lifted from contact with the door. This spring may be secured to thechannel C by passing it through a small hole therein or an adjustablesliding bracket may be made to lit the channel groove and allow forlongitudinal adjustment of the position of the spring if desired. Itwill also be obvious that the end of the spring I8 may be attached tothe door itself or to a lug formed on one side of the bar 22 if desiredwithout departing irom the spirit of the invention and also that othermodifications may be made in the detailed construction of the devicewithout departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of theclaims.

As shown in Figure 7 a modified form of spring may be used to hold thefelt in place to seal against the floor and this spring 3U may be of anextended spiral type having one end 3| to engage within the channel 6and the other end 32 to be inserted down into the felt strip E.

A right angled bracket actuating or operating member G for operating theweather strip C is mounted to the door frame B at that side of the doorframe which is opposite to the side having the door hinges to make thedevice operate instantly when the door has just been cracked open.

This member G is made of a flat base 33 having slots 34 therein throughwhich screws 35 may be passed to secure the member to the door frame andto provide for proper adjustment of the slanting angle of the bracket inrelation to the vertical position of the door frame. The angle side ISof the member G is so set when the device is adjusted to the door framethat it will contact the bend 38 of the support bar I9 when the door isclosed on a slanting angled position and will force this bend downwardlycausing the entire weather strip C to move downwardly against thesurface of the door closing the bottom edge of the felt strip E againstthe oor or sill as the case may be, just as the door is being completelyclosed thereby operating quickly, smoothly and without any drag on thefelt strip. When the door is opened a very short distance to allow thedoor to move suicient to disengage the operating member G from theangled bend of the bar I9 the tension of the spring 28 will raise theweather strip C and the felt E from the oor against the side of the dooruntil it is again operated by the bracket G. As will be obvious theinstant the door is moved the tension of the spring 28 will cause thestrip to commence to raise and as the bend slides up the bracket G withcontinued opening of the door the strip continues to raise until thebend has entirely left Contact with the bracket G at which time thestrip will be completely raised to full elevated position to clear anyobject which the door will clear.

The felt strip E is made longer than the channel and the bar I9, islonger than the distance between the two bearing brackets I8 to permitinstallation of the device on either a right hand or left hand door asdesired. This may be done by the installation of the bar 22, and thepositioning of the bar and strip in relation thereto with acorresponding repositioning of the lower end of the spring 28 where itis attached to the channel or by use oi a sliding support member ashereinbefore set out.

Having thus described my invention I desire to secure by Letters Patentand claim:-

1. In a weather strip of the class described the combination of a body;a curved top along the top edge of said body; a strip of weather sealingmaterial mounted to said body at each end thereof; springs mountedbetween the ends, said springs to force the strip downwardly to engagethe oor at all places along the entire width of the door; bracketsmounted to said door one of which has a slot therein and both of whichhave a hole in which the supporting bar is pivotally mounted; bearingson the top edge of said body; a U- shaped bar mounted in said bearingsand having the ends turned in to engage in said brackets, one end beingmade at to engage and pass through said slot into said bracket; a springmounted to said body and to one end of said bar to normally hold thebody elevated; and an angled plate mounted to said door frame at anangle to the door face to engage the end of said bar to force the bodyand strip down when the door is closed.

2. In a removable weather strip for doors and closures the co-mbinationof a body having the top end formed to carry pressure springs; bearingsmounted near each end of said body; a U- shaped bar mounted in saidbearings with the ends of each leg of the U bent inwardly and with oneend attened; a long bracket strip mounted across the door with the endsturned out to form support brackets, one end being slotted into thebearing hole through which the flattened end of said rod may be passedwhen the body has been raised above its normal elevated position; aweather strip mounted to said body and extending below the bottom ofsaid body to engage the floor from side to side of said door; meansmounted to the door frame to engage the bar and force the body and stripdown to engage the iioor; and spring means to normally hold the body andstrip elevated from said floor,

3. In a removable weather strip for closures the combination of abracket bar having each end bent out to form bearing brackets with eachbracket perforated and with a slot through one side of one bracket nearthe top edge thereof into the hole therein; a body having bearings onthe top side thereof; a bar carried in said bearings with each endturned up and back inwardly with the turned in ends to engage in thebrackets of said bracket bar, with one end flattened to allow forinsertion of one end of said bar in the bracket and then insertion ofthe ilattened end by passing it through the slot when the body and barhalve been elevated above the normal raised position of the body; aspring mounted to saidv body to normally hold the body elevated; and aweather strip mounted inside said body to engage the floor when the bodyhas been forced down by Contact with a stop on the closure frame.

GEORGE N. BRUNKER.

